ENGLISH PREVALENCE OF ANTI HCV ANTIBODIES AND ANTI HBV ANTIBODIES IS RISK GROUPS OF PATIENTS Andrijana Odalović, M. Parlić, N. Katanić, B. Stolić, J. Aritonović Medical facultu Pristina-Kosovska Mitrovica SUMMARY Infections caused by viruses hepatitis B and C are one of the most severe problem in contemporary medicine. These viruses show high affinity to hepatocytes. The fundamental pathogenetic mechanisam which is responsible for hepatocyte damage, depends either on cytocidal effect of virus or immunological response of the infected host. The most common way of virus transmission nowdays is parenteralno, due to intravenous drug abuse, while earlier the blood transfusion was a more often the pathway of infection. Patients on chronical hemodialysis are at increased risk of HCV infection. The aim of our study was to determine the most common risk factors and pathways of HBV and HCV infection, as well as to assess the significance of the serological markers of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses in risk groups of patients. The study was conducted at Institute for blood transfusion at Health Center of Kosovska Mitrovica, in the period from January 2000 until December 2015. ELISA test was performed for the confirmation of presence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses in the blood. The results showed that the number of respondents increased significantly during the research period. Voluntary blood donors were significantly more represented than respondents who were referred by a physician. Average age of all seropositive? examinees in the study was 47,1 ± 18,1 years (range from 8 – 79 years). HBV seropositivity was significantly more present compared to HCV seropositivity. The highest incidence of HBV and HCV infection was recorded in the working age population, between 40 and 50 years of age. Analyzing the data of the way of infection transmission, most patients reported an unknown pathway of infection (39%). The second most common way of infection transmission was hemodialysis (28.4%), while the intravenous drug abuse was noted in 13,4% of patients. We can conclude that the implementation of regular screening and timely prevention, as well as the education program of the population can be helpful in reducing the number of patients with HBV and HCV infection. Key words: Hepatitis B and hepatitis C, risk groups, ELISA test
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